Wood swelling

I know I should post pictures with this but I am at work and did not take any. I made a coffee table last year, The center is 3/4 lacewood then I wrapped it with ebony and Babinga mitering the corners. All of the corners appear to have pulled apart over night. There is like 1/16 gap in each one. So I have a few questions

1. Is there a way to stabalize wood so it does not expand and contract as much2. On projects like this should I go with a solid plywood core with for example 1/16 resawed vineer on top instead?

Any tips,tricks advice would be appreciated. I am just puzzled that it was fine then it pulled apart. Honestly I never really liked the way that the top came out so I am looking forward to building a new top.

Thanks,-AG

3 replies so far

I have become wary of using mitered corners around solid wood panels without using any reinforcment like a keyed miter. If you wanted to use the same woods again I would try slotting the miters and gluing in a couple of keys from the same speices wood. I have had very good experiences using this technique in the past.

Any time you wrap a mitered frame around a solid wood panel, you are playing Russian roulette.

If the panel is sealed on both sides, that will limit moisture absorption and thus reduce movement. If the piece is kept in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, that will also decrease the chance of problems. Miter keys, as woodenwarrior suggested will also prevent the corners from separating sometimes.

But none of those will guarantee you won’t have a problem. That’s why your option #2 is the go-to solution when you want the framed-panel look.